Siena: Romney’s Ryan Pick Doesn’t Move NY Voters

Mitt Romney’s selection of Rep. Paul Ryan as his VP running mate did not help his cause in true-blue New York, today’s Siena poll finds.

Only 16 percent of poll respondents said the presumptive GOP nominee’s choice of the Wisconsin lawmaker as his No. 2 made them more likely to support Romney, while 21 percent said it made them less likely.

A majority – 62 percent – said it had no effect.

Obama has slightly widened his lead over Romney over the past month, and is now ahead 62-33 percent, which is very comparable to the 63-36 percent margin by which Obama beat Sen. John McCain in New York in 2008, according to Siena pollster Steven Greenberg.

While this doesn’t bode well for the Romney/Ryan ticket, it might be good news for down-ballot candidates – particularly GOP congressional hopefuls – who have been very worried that Ryan and his explosive budget plan will negatively impact their races.

(The poll didn’t specifically ask about the potential impact of Ryan at the top of the ticket, but this weekend’s NY-26 survey did show that the top concern of voters in that district, at least, is jobs and the economy, and not health care).

On the other hand, New Yorkers support implementation of the Affordable Care Act (AKA Obamacare), with more than eight 10 Democrats saying they want it to take effect ASAP, and more than two-thirds of Republicans backing repeal.

A majority of independents favor implementation as well.

Siena also polled on several hot-button state issues. Topping the list is hydrofracking, which continues to divide New Yorkers and remains a “lose-lose” for the DEC and Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Greenberg said.

Currently, 39 percent of voters support DEC allowing hydrofracking to move forward in the Marcellus and 38 percent oppose it (the split was 37-36 percent in May).

By a 55-31 percent margin, likely voters support creating a system of public campaign financing in New York. That’s up significantly from May when Siena asked a slightly different question and found support at 40-36.

The proposal to fund political aspirations with taxpayer dollars has majority support from every region of the state, as well as from Democrats and independents and plurality support from Republicans.

The same goes for a constitutional amendment that would allow expansion on non-Indian run casino gambling in New York. Interestingly, the largest support for this idea comes from Catholic voters.

Support for increasing the state’s minimum wage remains very high (80 percent). Ditto Cuomo’s approval rating, which is hardly news anymore. For the 13th time in 19 months in office, Cuomo has a favorability rating of at least 70 percent.

As Greenberg noted, the governor’s honeymoon with voters has lasted longer than some celebrity marriages.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand continues to enjoy a double-digit lead (65-22) over her GOP opponent, Wendy Long, with 11 weeks remaining in this campaign.

While state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli and AG Eric Schneiderman have seen their favorability ratings drop, a majority of voters still don’t know enough about them to have an opinion one way or the other.